Endless traveler band, track and the like



P 1936- J. G. A. KITCHEN 2,055,932

ENDLESS TRAVELER BAND, TRACK AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 1', 1953 I PatentedSept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES ENDLESS TRAVELER BAND, TRACK AND T HE'LIKEJohn George Aulsebrook Kitchen, Bowness-on- Winder-mere, EnglandApplication December 1, 1933, Serial No. 'l00,630

In Great Britain January 21, 1933 6 Claims. (01. 3115- -10) The presentinvention relates to endless traveler bands, conveyors, track membersand the like.

According to the present invention a traveler 5 band, conveyor, trackmember or the like consists of. an endless band of resilient or springymaterial, certain parts of which are curved longitudinally whilst theremaining parts are bent or curved transversely.

it According to another aspect of the invention a traveler band,conveyor, track member or the like consists of an endless band ofresilient or springy material, certain parts of which have a' muchgreater curvature than other parts, which other parts are bent or curvedtransversely.

According to a still further aspect of the invention an endless bandformed of a, resilient or springy material has uninterrupted edges andis of such cross-section as to assume a shape in which two substantiallyparallel and substantially straight portions thereof merge into twolongitudinally curved portions and to maintain said shape naturally orstably independently of. which particular parts or elements of the bandconstitute said curved or straightportions. Thus the band is adapted tomaintain its shape naturally and stably during traversing thereof.

More specifically defined, a traveler band, conveyor, track member orthe like consists of an endless band formed of a resilient or sprlngymaterial which is bent or curved transversely to its length, thiscurvature being retained at all parts of, the band along any straight orsubstantially straight run thereof, but reduced or eliminated at anarcuate junction between two runs.

According to the present invention, the endless hand does notnecessarily take the form of a true ellipse but may be defined as beinginherently elliptical in that it consists of longitudinally curved endbights and straight or substantially straight reaches, the centers ofcurvature of. the end bights being spaced apart.

A track or the like according to the present invention may consist of asingle endless band of curved or bent section or of a number of suchbands laminated together. Alternatively it may consist of a relativelylong strip of material of suitable section, wrapped upon itself a numberof times. I

- When a traveler'band, track orthe like is required to withstand loadsapplied externally, for instance when used as a track for a vehicle, thetransverse curvature of the band is convex outwardly.

The terms bent or curved used in connection with the transversecross-sectional shape of a band or the like are intended to imply atransverse cross-section the general shape of which is curved orarcuate.

When a band according to the present invention is to engage over a pairof rollers or pulleys it is preferable that the rollers should be ofsubstantially equal diameter and that such diameter should be equal totwice the radius of transverse curvature of the band. In other Words,the radius 10 of curvature of the band at the junction of twosubstantially straight runs should be equal to the radius of transversecurvature of the band.

With regard to the width of the band, it has been found that if'theangle subtended by the band at its center of transverse curvature isapproximately 475 then satisfactory results are obtained.

The band, conveyor or track of the present invention may be employed inpractice for a. multi- 20 tude of different purposes and various modesofapplication are available.

For instance in the use of the invention as a. track for a vehicle,trolley, dinner wagon or any other member ordinarily supported on wheelsor 25 castors, a band or hands according to the invention may be mountedeach upon a pair Qf-Wheels secured to the vehicle.

The said wheels may be of diameter equal to the distance between theruns of the band, but if 30 V desired they may be of considerablysmaller diameter so that one run is supported from the other by virtueof the inherent strength and resilience of the band and a resilientmounting of the vehicle or the like is obtained. 35

A single band may extend over the whole length of the wheel base of avehicle, trolley or the like but if desired several separate bands maybe arranged longitudinally in the length of the wheel base. 40

The invention is also applicable for instance to cycles, skates and thelike and in these applications, a band is preferably mounted on wheelsor rollers of diameter equal to the distance between the runs of theband.

In the foregoing examples, the band or track when in motion is adaptedas a whole to remain in a given position with respect to the memberwhich it is supporting. I

The band may be arranged however, to move 50 longitudinally of saidmember when the member is in motion.

In this mode of application, the band, when moving will have a velocityequal to that of the member which it supports and. also a velocity 55relatively to said member. In other words the band may roll along saidmember in order to displace or convey the same. In this arrangement, theband may be connected at one point of a run to the member which itsupports and it is able to move or roll along said member by a distanceequal to one run of the band, whilst the member itself moves a distanceequal to two runs.

This arrangement may be applied very advantageously to tractors and thelike when a number of alternative sets of bands or tracks will beprovided so that at least one set of tracks can be lifted from thesupporting surface at any time to allow the tracks or bands to revert toan initial position after a forward movement. In such a tractorarrangement each band may be driven through a pin extending therefrom bya piston, piston rod or the like.

A band or conveyor according to the present invention may be employedfor the support of a sliding door in which case a band is interposedbetween a door and its support.

The invention is more particularly described with reference to theaccompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing the application of the invention to amotor vehicle.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view showing the track formed of a singlelamination or convolution of a strip such as spring steel.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the track or band formed of a numberof laminated metal strips or a number of convolutions of a metal stripwound upon one another.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a modifled form of the band.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the band showing a further modificationwherein a rubber tread is employed.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a band having a relatively soft materialsuch as cork interposed between the laminations or convolutions thereof.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 'l! of Fig. 1 showing atransverse section of the band and a portion of the wheel or roller.

Figure 1 shows a motor car supported by pairs of track members I, 2, thetrack members I extending between wheels 3, 4, at the front end of thevehicle, whilst the track members 2 extend between wheels 5, 6 at therear end of the vehicle.

The general cross sectional shape of the track members along thesubstantially straight runs '1, 8 is shown in Figures 2 to 6, and thebands may have any suitable tread for engagement with a road surfacesuch as for example, a rubber tread as shown in Figure 5, or a series ofmetal studs as shown in Figure 4. Again, the bands may be completelycovered or sheathed, for instance with rubber. Each band is preferablyformed of a number of laminations or a number of convolutions of asingle strip as shown in sectionin Figure 3.

The bands are preferably slightly curved concave outwardly along theruns between the wheels 3, l and 5, 6 and this slight curvature may beobtained by rolling or drawing the material of the band along themid-width thereof.

The rollers 3, 4, 5, 5 are of a radius substantially equal to the radiusof curvature of the band in the transverse direction.

Figure 2 shows a sectional view of a track formed of a single laminationor convolution of strip such as spring steel. It will be seen that thestrip is arcuately curved transversely in its runs.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of 'a band formed of a number of laminatedstrips or a number of convolutions of strip wound one upon the other.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of a band having a number oflongitudinally spaced metal studs secured thereto by rivets 36, whilstFigure 5 shows a band having a rubber tread 31 secured on itsouter'surface.

Figure 6 is a sectional view of a band having a relatively soft materialsuch as cork 38, interleaved between the laminations or convolutionsthereof.

The endless metal belts shown in the accompanying drawing, may be madeof a single strip wound upon itself in convolutions, or of a number ofimposed strips.

'It is to be clearly understood that the present invention, whilespecifically illustrated only in connection with a motor vehicle, isapplicable to many other uses such as, a trolley, dinner wagon or anyother vehicle supported on wheels or casters, a support for a slidingdoor, an armored tank, the landing gear for an airplane, and a bicycle.

I declare that what I claim is:-

1. An endless spring-metal traveler band inherently elliptical andinherently transversely curved in its reaches, and substantially freefrom transverse curvature in its longitudinally curved end bights, thetransverse curvature of the band in the reaches being adapted todisappear in the end bights and the portions of the band in the endbights adapted to assume transverse curvature in the reaches as the bandtravels.

2. An endless spring-metal traveler band comprising laminations of metalstrip and cork strip interleaving said laminations, said band beinginherently elliptical and inherently transversely curved in its reaches,and substantially free from transverse curvature in its longitudinallycurved end bights.

3. An endless spring-metal traveler band comprising alternatinglaminations of strip of resilient metal and of a resilient non-metallicmaterial softer than the said metal, said band being inherentlyelliptical and inherently transversely curved in its reaches, andsubstantially free from transverse curvature in its longitudinallycurved end bights.

4- A rolling support for a vehicle, comprising a spring-metal travelerband inherently elliptical and inherently transversely curved in itsreaches and substantially free from transverse curvature in itslongitudinally curved end bights, the transverse curvature of the bandin the reaches being adapted, as the band travels, to disappear in theend bights and the portions of the band in the end bights adapted toassume transverse curvature in the reaches, rollers between said reachesand within said bights of radius equal to the radius of transversecurvature of said reaches and a frame carrying said rollers.

5. An endless spring-metal traveler band comprised of a strip of springmetal longer than the peripheral dimension of the band and tendingconstantly to assume a longitudinally straight and transversely curvedform, said strip being wound upon itself to provide the band, and meanssecuring the outer end of the strip to the inner convolutions thereof inthe band whereby to maintain the peripheral dimension of the band, saidband having reaches which are maintained longitudinally straight andtransversely curved by the inherent resiliency oi the strip and havingbights between said reaches which are longitudinally curved andsubstantially straight transversely and are so maintained by theinherent resiliency of the strip.

6. An endless spring-metal traveler band comprising concentriclaminations of strip metal, said band being inherently elliptical andinherently transversely curved in its reaches, and substantially freefrom transverse curvature in its longitudinally curved end bights, thetransverse curvature of the band in its reaches being adapted todisappear in its end bights and the portions oi the band in the endbights adapted to assume transverse curvature in the reaches as the bandtravels; JOHN GEORGE AULSEBROOK KITCHEN.

